Signal structure



July 21, 1942- F. A. swANsoN 2,290,717

SIGNAL '1 STRUCTURE y Filed dat. 2, 1940 sheets-sheet 1 Ill/11111111111111001111.

July 21, 1942.

F. A. SWANSON S IGNAL S TRUCTURE Filedl oci. 2, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented July 21, 1942 UNITED STATES AT r OFFICE SIGNAL STRUCTURE Frank A, Swanson, Fanwoo'd, N. J.

Application October 2, 1940, Serial No. 359,320

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and improved design of door bell or signal structure which is capable of producing two different types of signals.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide a single signal structure which will serve as a signal for both the front door and the back door of a dwellinghouse, being capable of giving two distinct types of signals.

Another object of my invention is .to provide a combined signal structure which is not only pleasing in the quality of sound, but attractive in general appearance, and one which may be manufactured at a relatively low cost.

Another object of my invention is to provide a signal structure in which the bells or resonators are assembled as a unit on a mounting member that can be quickly attached or detached from an assembly strip which may be fastened to the wall or other support, and Wir-ed up entirely independently of the bell or resonator assembly structure which can be later slipped into place.

Another object of my invention is to provide a combination unit which is an improvement in several ways over the signal device shown and described in my Patent No. 2,220,979, issued November 12, 1940.

These and other objects will appear from a consideration of the following specification, taken in connection with the annexed drawings, Where- 1n:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional View through the signal structure as mounted on the wall, ready for use, some of the interior parts, however, being shown in elevation.

Figure 2 is a view of the back of the signal structure ready for mounting on its assembly strip.

Figure 2a is a section on the line Zat-2a of Figure 2, showing only the curvature of the mounting strip.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the assembly strip attached to a wall or support member.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, sectional View showing a modified form of the lower portion of one of the magnet control members.

Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the manner of connecting the magnets of the structure to the push buttons, which are located at any desired place, the magnets being in series.

Figure 6 is a View similar to Figure 5, but with the magnets in parallel.

Figure 7 is a diagram of another form of op-l eration.

Figure 8 is a view of the magnets only as shown in Figure l, but illustrating the us-e of a modified form or light-weight type of core for the upper magnet.

In Figure l, I illustrates the wall or some support to which is attached what I term .an assembly strip 2, the same being fastened to the wall or support member I as by screws 3. The strip 2 is of insulating material and has mounted thereon a pluralityof metal pieces 4, 5 and 6. These pieces are held to the strip 2 in any satisfactory manner as by eyelets 'I. Each of the pieces 4, 5 and 6 has a hole 8 extending into a notch 9 of smaller diameter to receive the heads I0 of studs II which are fastened to an insulating strip I2 which is fastened in any satisfactory manner, as by rivets I3, to a metallic mounting strip I4. The strip 2 is cut away or recessed t0 make room for the heads I0 of the studs II. The mounting strip I 4 is preferably curved as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 2a so that the opposite edges I5 will come close to the wall or support member I and provide a housing space for the assembly strip 2 and the Contact pieces 4, 5 and 6, as well as the insulating strip I2 and the heads I0 of the contact studs II. These Contact studs are wired to electromagnets as shown, for example, in Figure 5.

Mounted on the metallic support or elongated member I4, are a pair of electromagnets I6 and I'I. Each of the magnets has a magnetic frame I8 which may be similar to that shown in my patent application heretofore identified, or the magnet frame may be as indicated in the drawings, cupshaped, with an end member I9 riveted or spotwelded to the frame member I8 which of itself is fastened to the mounting member I4, preferably by spot-welding at 20. The frame I8 of each of the magnets is of magnetic material in order to complete a magnetic circuit in cooperation with the magnet core members. The magnet I 'l is wound on a tube 2I preferably of suitable insulating material, and positioned within the tube 2l is a plunger unit including a core portion 22 of magnetic material, the upper end of which is normally positioned at some point 23; and an auxiliary portion 24 of non-magnetic material such as brass or aluminum.

The upper end of the tube 2I terminates at point 25, and resting against this end is a washer 26 preferably of strong non-magnetic material, and on the washer rests a spring 2l that embraces the plunger portion 2,4. The upper end of the spring 2l is positioned under the flanged head 28 of the plunger portion 24.

In the lower end of the core 22 is positioned a striker point 29, such as a suitable piece of wood or rawhide, or a material which will give the proper resonating effect with a bell or resonator 30 which is supported on a member 3| that is preferably resilient and fastened to an'ear 32 of the frame member as by a screw 33 which may be reached through a small hole 34 in the gong or resonator 30 for the purpose ofassembly. The gong 30 has a slot 35 therein to pass the sleeve 36 which is preferably used to extend over the upper end of the tube 2I and the lower end of the tubular member 31 which is very similar to the tubular member 2 I.

The tubular member 31 carries the electromagnet I6 and contains a plunger unit comprising a core 38 and an auxiliary portion 39 fastened to the core 38 and preferably of non-magnetic material such as brass or aluminum. The upper end of the plunger portion 39 has fastened thereto a washer 40 preferably of strong sound-deadening material; also a striker 4I similar to the striker 29. A gong 42 is attached to a resilient member 43 similar to 3I, and is fastened in a similar manner to a projection 44 of the electromagnet. Likewise, the gong 42 is provided with a hole 45 through which a screw-driver may be passed to engage the screw 4E for assembly purposes; also, the gong 42 is provided with a slot 41 to pass the sleeve 3S, which sleeve serves to clos-e the space between the tubes 2l and 31, although these tubes may be extended into contact, thereby eliminating the sleeve 36 which is merely put on to hide the joint between the tubes 2| and 31, and align the two tubular members 2l and 31. One straight tube may be used and the magnets I6 and I1 properly located thereon. If the single tube is made of metal it should preferably be of non-magnetic material and split to prevent eddy current losses therein.

It will be seen from Figure 1, that the complete plunger structure of the lower gong is made up of the core 22 and the auxiliary plunger portion 24; likewise, the plunger structure for the upper gong is made up of the core 38 and its eX- tension or auxiliary plunger 39. It will also be noted that the lower end of the upper plunger or bottom of the core 38 is normally positioned very close to the head 28 of the lower plunger. By this construction, when the front door bell button F is pushed, see Figure 5, a circuit is closed through both the magnets I6 and I'I in series, it being understood that a current supply transformer T is utilized in the circuit, and both the plungers will be simultaneously operated, and the upper gong 42 will be struck with the combined energy produced by the movement of the two plungers acting as a unit to give a louder signal than produced when the upper gong 42 is struck by the effort of one magnet.

On releasing the button F, the two plungers fall together by gravity until the stop washer 48 of the upper plunger engages the upper end of the tube 31, thereby stopping the upper plunger in its downward movement. However, the lower plunger continues with its own momentum through the distance which it falls, and continues on so that the striker 29 hits the lower gong 33, at the same time compressing the spring 21. After the gong 3l] has been hit by the striker 29, the spring 21 restores the plunger to its normal inoperative position as shown in Figure 1.

If the back door bell button B, for example, is pushed or operated, only the magnet IB will be energized and only the upper plunger will move to hit the gong 42. The upper gong 42 is of a material preferably thicker than the gong 3E so as to give a diierent signal for the back door bell, it being understood that the front door bell signal is taken as a combination of the sound produced by the two gongs as above described.

In Figure 6 the two magnets I6 and I1 are energized in parallel relationship when the front door button F is operated, thereby giving, for the same number of turns on each magnet as in Figure 5, a stronger actuation of the plungers.

Operation of the back door button B merely actuates the magnet I6 as in Figure 5.

As a matter of fact, the arrangement shown in Figure '1 may be used. In this figure, the magnet I1 is made suiciently powerful, so that when the front door button F is operated, both plunger units are simultaneously raised as though they were one plunger assembly by the single magnet I1 to strike the gong 42. When the button F is released, the striking of resonator 30 is caused as in the other circuit arrangements; also, the operation of button B of Figure 7 actuates the magnet I6 just the same as in the other cases. In addition, I have found that by making the core 38 sufficiently light, as by using a steel tube 38a as shown in Figure 8, the .stop washer 40 is not needed as the momentum of the upper plunger in falling by itself and striking the end 28 of the lower plunger, is not enough to oompress the spring 21 and to cause the striker 29 to hit the gong 39. The tube 38a may have a bottom engagement part 52 or equivalent means.

It will be understood that my invention is susceptible to certain changes in detail; for example, in Figure 4 I have attached a cap 48 to the sleeve 2l and have used a spring 49 at the lower end of vthe plunger instead of at the upper end as in Figure 1. One end of the spring 49 rests within the cap 48, while the upper end en- Compasses a reduced portion 50 of the core member 22a, the upper end of the spring engaging a shoulder 5I on the core member. The cap 48 has a hole 48a in its bottom, large enough to permit the reduced end 50 of the core member 22a to pass therethrough to strike the resonator 39 after the signal device has been energized to give a two-tone signal. Furthermore, the shape of the resonators and kind of material from which they are made may be varied; also the details for mounting the resonators on the magnet frames may be varied, but the attachments should be of a nature such that the mounting members will not shift in position.

Such changes as these are believed to come within the spirit of my invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A signal structure including a mounting member, a pair of electromagnets supported in Vertical tandem relation by the mounting member, a pair of shell-type resonators supported, one to each magnet in operative relation thereto, and a plunger for each magnet, the plungers being in substantial vertical alignment and arranged so they can act together on energization of at least the lower magnet to give one type of signal, and to give another type of signal on energization of only the upper of the magnets, stop means for the upper plunger on its return movement, and means for returning the lower plunger to normal idle` position after its operation and after it strikes its resonator.

2. A signal structure including an elongated mounting member, a pair of electromagnets supported in tandem relation, one above the other, on said member, a pair of resonators supported in Vertical alignment each in operative position with respect to its magnet, a plunger core assembly for the magnets comprising two separate vertically movable plungers arranged in close juxtaposition so both may be moved to cause the upper part to Astrike the upper vresonator when both magnets are simultaneously energized, and to cause the lowerpart to strike the lower resonator'when the magnets are de-energized, with resilient means for returning said lower part to normal idle position after striking the lower resonator, the upper plunger part alone being movable to strike its resonator when only th-e upper magnet is energized and means for stopping the upper plunger when it reaches the eX- tent of its downward movement on deenergization of the upper magnet.

3. A signal structure for giving dierent types of signals including a mounting member, a pair of electromagnets supported in vertical tandem relation on the mounting member, a pair of shelltype resonators having different tone characteristics supported, one to each magnet, in operative relation thereto, a plunger for each magnet, the plungers being in substantially vertical alignment and operative together on simultaneous energization of both magnets to cause the upper plunger to strike the upper resonator, and then on deenergization of both magnets to allow the lower plunger to strike the lower resonator, thereby giving a two-tone type of signal, the lower magnet alone being capable of operating both plungers to also give a two-tone signal on energization and -deenergization of the magnets,

return stop means for the upper plunger, and resilient means acting on the lower plunger after it strik-es its resonator to return the plunger to normal idle position.

4. A signal structure for giving different types of signals including a mounting member, a pair of electromagnets supported in vertical relation on the mounting member, a pair of resonators having dif-ferent tone characteristics supported in operative relation one each over the electromagnets and with the mounting member forming substantial enclosure means for the electromagnets, plungers for each magnet arranged so their axes are in vertical substantially parallel relationship, both plungers being moved by the simultaneous energization of the electromagnets for rst striking the upper resonator a relatively hard blow to give a certain tone signal, and on deenergization to strik-e the lower resonator an easier blow to give a diierent tone signal than i the rst signal, means for stopping the upper plunger at the end of its return movement, and resilient means to move the lower plunger to normal position after it strikes the lower resonator.

5. A signal structure for giving dilerent types of signals including an elongated mounting member, a pair of electromagnets supported in tandem relation, one above the other, on said memb-er, a pair of resonators supported in vertical alignment in operative relation to the magnets, a vertically acting plunger for each magnet, idleposition stop means for the upper plunger, the plungers being arranged so when both magnets are simultaneously energized, the plungers combine the eiorts of their upward movement to cause the upper plunger to strike the upper resonator to give one type of signal, while on deenergization of the magnets the -downward movement of the plungers is initiated and continues until the upper plunger engages its stop means, while the lower plunger continues its downward movement to hit the lower resonator to give a signal dierent from the first-mentioned signal, and resilient means for returning the lower plunger to normal inactive position afterit strikes its resonator.

6. A signal structure for -giving different types of signals including an elongated mounting member, a pair of solenoids supported in tandem relation, one above the other, on said member, a pair of resonators supported one in operative relation to each solenoid, a plunger unit for each solenoid` comprising a core at least a part of which is of magnetic material, the plungers being in vertical alignment in close juxtaposition and positioned so that when both solenoids are energized the plungers are raised as a unit to cause the upper plunger to strike the upper resonator thereby giving one type of signal, but when the solenoids are deenergized the plungers fall as a unit, means for stopping the plunger of the upper solenoid when said plunger reaches its normal l idle position, while the lower plunger continues its movement to hit the lower resonator to give another type of signal, and resilient means for returning the lower plunger to normal idle position after it strikes the lower resonator.

7. A signal structure for -giving different types of signals including an elongated mounting member, a pair of solenoids supported in tandem relation, one above the other, on said member, a pair of resonators supported one in operative relation to each solenoid, a plunger unit for each solenoid comprising a core at least a part of which is of magnetic material, resilient means for normally holding the lower plunger in a position to be -eiectively acted on by its solenoid, means for normally holding the upper plunger in a position so that it will be effectively acted on by its solenoid, the two plungers being in substantial vertical alignment and in close juxtaposition whereby they `will move as a unit to cause the upper plunger to strike the upper resonator when the solenoids are simultaneously energized, but on deenergization of the solenoids, the plungers move only part-way downwardly as a unit, while the lower plunger continues its downward movement to hit the lower resonator to give another type of signal, said holding means for the upper plunger also acting to stop the plunger of the upper solenoid when said plunger reaches its normal idle position on the said downward movement.

8. A signal structure including an elongated mounting member, a pair of electromagnets supported in vertical tandem relation, one above the other, on said member, a pair of resonators supported in alignment, one to each magnet. in operative relation thereto, a plunger assembly for the magnets comprising two separate movable plunger parts, one for each magnet and arranged one above the other, so both may be moved as a unit whereby the upper part strikes the upper resonator and the lower part strikes the lower resonator on energization and deenergization of the lower magnet, and do the same when both magnets are simultaneously energized and deenergized, the upper plunger part bein-g suiciently light so it can rest on the lower plunger part as a stop and will not force the lower plunger to hit the lower resonator when the said upper plunger part is released by its magnet after having been moved only by the upper magnet when giving one type of signal and resilient means to restore the lower plunger to idle position after it has been moved to give a signal.

FRANK A. SWANSON. 

